Runoff water from parking lots and filling stations is cleaned by first
passing via an inlet pipe tangentially into a vortex chamber where the
swirling action separates the contaminants from the water. Floating
contaminants are stored in the vortex chamber, trapped at the top of the
chamber by the roof of that chamber and at the lower part of the chamber
by a skirt. That roof has an access opening to permit removal of the
floating contaminants. The body of the fluid thereafter moves downward
into a settling chamber where heavier-than-water contaminants settle. As
the fluid in the settling chamber builds up, it passes through cleaning
screens to a clean water outlet. A by-pass overflow pipe to process very
large volumes of water extends upward from the settling chamber. Each
screen may have louvers for preventing contaminants from blocking the
screen.